ZIL,  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AND 

■I    THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 


Article  published  in  the JpRNAL  DO  COMMERCIO  of  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
.^5aS!lary  20th,  1908. 


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nia 


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Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


Form  L  1 

JX 

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This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


27  I'i-ii 


;AN  5      1942 
5  1946 

^PR  2  1 1947 


Form  L-9-15ii(-8,'24 


The  importance  of  the  article  we  reprint  from  the  col- 
umns of  the  great  leading  newspaper  of  Brazil,  the 
Jornal  do  Commercio,  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  lies  chiefly  in 
the  assertion  it  makes,  accompanied  with  historical 
evidence,  that  fifty-nine  days  after  the  reading  of  Presi- 
dent Monroe's  celebrated  Message  of  the  23rd  Decem- 
ber, 1823,  the  Brazilian  Government  issued  instructions 
to  its  Representative  in  Washington  to  propose  to  the 
United  States  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  on 
the  basis  of  that  Message,  acting  on  the  principle  that 
it  was  not  in  accordance  with  reason,  justice  and  right 
that  sacrifices  such  as  those  which  the  United  States 
undertook  to  make  for  the  other  American  Nations 
should  be  accepted  gratuitously.  This  article  is  gener- 
ally attributed  to  Baron  do  Rio  Branco,  the  Foreign 
Minister  of  Brazil. 


BRAZIL,  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AND 

THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 


The  demonstrations  of  friendship  between  the  Govern- 
ments of  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Washington  have  been  criti- 
cized of  late  with  injustice  and  passion  by  a  few  BraziHan 
writers,  who  consider  themselves  the  exponents  of  the  policy 
of  our  statesmen  under  the  Empire.  The  policy  followed 
by  Presidents  Rodrigues  Alves  and  Roosevelt  for  the  closer 
approximation  of  Brazil  and  the  United  States  was  taken 
in  bad  part  by  those  critics.  On  several  occasions  they 
showed  an  ungrateful  contempt  for  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
and  condemned  the  simultaneous  resolution  of  the  two  Gov- 
ernments to  raise  their  respective  diplomatic  representatives 
to  the  dignity  of  Ambassadors. 

The  documents  which  we  are  going  to  reproduce,  or  give 
extracts  from,  show  that  President  Rodrigues  Alves  was 
amply  justified  when  he  said  in  his  last  Message  to  Con- 
gress :  "It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  note  that  the 
ties  of  cordial  friendship  which  hind  Brazil  and  the  United 
States  together  are  ever  drawing  closer.  In  striving  to 
strengthen  them  I  have  done  no  more  than  follow  the 
policy  inaugurated  after  1882  by  the  founders  of  our  Inde- 
pendence, which  has  ever  since  been  observed  by  all  the  Gov- 
ernments that  Brazil  has  had. 


The  Manifesto  of  the  Prince  Regent  of  Brazil  to  the  Gov- 
ernments and  Friendly  Nations  bears  the  date  of  August  6, 
1822.     This  document,  as  is  well  known,  was  drawn  up 


f*  'ry 


?344 


by  Jose  Bonifacio  de  Andrada  e  Silva,  at  that  time  Minister 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Brazil  and  Secretary  of  State  for  For- 
eign Affairs. 

We  take  the  following  from  its  last  part : 

"My  firm  resolve  and  that  of  the  people  whom  I  govern 
are  legitimately  promulgated.  I  trust  then  that  intelligent 
and  impartial  men,  all  the  world  over,  and  the  Govern- 
ments and  Nations  friendly  to  Brazil  will  do  justice  to  such 
fair  and  wise  sentiments.  I  invite  them  to  continue  their 
friendly  relations  with  the  Kingdom  of  Brazil  for  our  mu- 
tual interest.  /  shall  be  ready  to  receive  their  Ministers  and 
diplomatic  agents  and  to  send  mine  to  them  so  long  as  the 
captivity  of  my  August  Father  continues." 

Six  days  later,  on  August  12th,  the  Prince  Regent  Dom 
Pedro  signed  the  decree  nominating  a  Charge  d'Affaires  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Brazil  in  the  United  States  of  America  and 
on  the  following  day  he  left  for  Sao  Paulo,  where  on  Sep- 
tember 7th  he  proclaimed  the  Independence  of  Brazil. 

The  decree  countersigned  by  Jose  Bonifacio  is  therefore, 
prior  to  the  Independence  and  the  Proclamation  of  the  Em- 
pire, since  the  Independence  took  place  on  the  7th  of  Sep- 
tember and  the  Proclamation  of  the  Empire  on  October 
1 2th  of  the  same  year,  1822. 

The  decree  runs  as  follows : 

"As  in  the  present  condition  of  politics  it  is  essential  to 
nominate  in  My  Royal  Name  a  person  in  the  United  States 
of  America  to  treat  directly  the  affairs  affecting  both  Coun- 
tries, and  having  taken  into  consideration  the  well  known 
ability,  patriotism  and  zeal  of  Luiz  Moutinho  Lima  Alves  e 
Silva,  officer  in  the  Department  of  State  for  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, I  have  been  pleased  to  appoint  him  to  occupy  the 
position  of  My  Charge  d'Affaires  in  the  said  United  States 
of  America  with  the  annual  salary  of  two  contos  and  four 
hundred  mil  reis.    • 


\-r3  3 


"Jose  Bonifacio  de  Andrada  e  Silva  of  My  Council  of 
State  and  of  the  Council  of  His  Most  Faithful  Majesty, 
Minister  and  Secretary  for  the  Home  and  Foreign  Affairs 
of  the  Kingdom,  whom  I  have  instructed  in  this  sense,  will 
carry  out  the  present  order. 

"Palace  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  August  12,  1822. — With  the 
Rubric  of  His  Royal  Highness,  the  Prince  Regent. — Jose 
Bonifacio  de  Andrada  e  Silva/' 

This  was  the  first  diplomatic  appointment  signed  by  the 
Prince  Regent  Dom  Pedro  on  the  advice  of  Jose  Bonifacio; 
later,  in  the  same  day,  two  more  decrees  were  signed  ap- 
pointing two  Charges  d'Affaires :  to  London,  the  Marshal 
de  Campo  Felisberto  Caldeira  Brant  Pontes,  afterwards 
Marquis  of  Barbacena,  and  to  Paris,  Manoel  Rodrigues 
Gameiro  Pessoa,  afterwards  Viscount  of  Itabayana.  Before 
these  only  one  appointment  had  been  made,  that  of  Manoel 
Antonio  Correa  da  Camara  as  Consul  to  Buenos  Aires  on 
May  24th. 

On  January  15,  1823,  Antonio  Goncalves  da  Cruz,  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  Pernambuco  revolution  of  181 7,  was 
appointed  Consul  General  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

II. 

Luiz  MoutinMo  was  unable  to  go  to  the  United  States  in 
1822,  as  he  was  delayed  by  special  duties  in  the  Foreign 
Office,  where  shortly  afterwards  he  was  promoted  to  the 
position  of  Director  General. 

By  decree  of  January  21st  of  1824,  Jose  Silvestre  Rebello 
was  appointed  Charge  d'Affaires  of  Brazil  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  He  was  therefore  the  first  diplomatic 
representative  we  actually  had  in  that  country. 

On  March  28th  he  landed  at  Baltimore  and  on  April  3rd 
arrived  at  Washington.     The  President  was  James  Monroe, 


who  in  his  last  Message,  read  to  Congress  on  December  3rd 
of  the  preceding  year,  had  promulgated  the  doctrine  of  the 
opposition  of  the  United  States  to  foreign  conquests  in  our 
Continent.  The  Secretary  of  State  was  John  Quincy 
Adams,  who  succeeded  Monroe  in  the  Presidency  a  year 
later,  on  March  4,  1825. 

On  April  5,  1824,  Rebello  wrote  to  Adams  asking  for  an 
audience  for  the  presentation  of  the  credentials  of  which  he 
was  the  bearer,  signed  by  Luiz  Jose  de  Carvalho  e  Mello, 
afterwards  Viscount  de  Cachoeira,  then  Minister  and  Sec- 
retary of  State  for  Home  and  Foreign  Affairs  of  Brazil. 
Interviews  and  conversations  took  place  between  them  and 
on  April  20th  Rebello  sent  to  Adams  a  Memorial  headed  as 
follows :  Succinct  and  true  exposition  of  the  facts  that  led 
the  Prince,  now  Emperor,  and  the  Brazilian  People  to  de- 
clare Brazil  a  free  and  Independent  Nation. 

On  May  26th  of  the  same  year  Rebello  was  presented  by 
Adams  to  President  Monroe  and  was  affirmed  in  the  posi- 
tion of  Charge  d'Affaires  of  Brazil. 

On  the  following  day  The  Daily  National  Intelligence  of 
Washington,  No.  3,554,  thus  noticed  the  event:  "Senhor 
Jose  Silvestre  Rebello  was  yesterday  presented  by 
Mr.  Adams,  Secretary  of  State,  to  whom  he  had  handed 
his  credentials,  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  as 
Charge  d'Affaires  of  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  and  was  re- 
ceived and  recognized  by  the  President  in  that  capacity.'* 

In  a  despatch  dated  May  31st,  Rebello  said  to  Carvalho  e 
Mello : 

"I  trust  that  those  despatches  have  arrived,  but  I  take  this 
further  occasion  of  apprising  Your  Excellency  that  this 
Government  recognized  the  Independence  and  the  Empire 
of  Brazil  on  the  26th  of  this  month,  when  I  was  presented 
to  the  President  as  Charge  d'Affaires  of  His  Majesty  the 
Emperor  of  Brazil,  with  the  same  formalities  as  are  ex- 


tended  to  representatives  of  other  Sovereigns.  I  therefore 
congratulate  Your  Excellency  and  beg  that  you  will  kiss 
the  hands  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  on  the  occasion  of 
this  happy  event." 

The  author  of  the  book  A  Illusdo  Americana  (The  Amer- 
ican Delusion)  was  therefore  misinformed  when  he  wrote  in 
1893 :  "On  the  occasion  of  the  Independence  of  Brazil  we 
received  no  proofs  of  goodwill  from  the  Americans  and 
only  after  other  countries  had  recognized  the  emancipation 
of  Brazil  did  the  United  States  recognize  our  autonomy." 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  of  America  was 
the  Urst  to  recognize  the  Independence  and  the  Empire  of 
Brazil,  being  the  only  Nation  indeed  to  precede  in  that  course 
Portugal,  which  signed  a  Treaty  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  on  Au- 
gust 29,  1824. 

Pereira  Pinto  writes  in  his  Apontamentos  para  0  Direito 
Internacional  on  Colleccdo  completa  dos  Tratados  celehra- 
dos  pelo  Brasil,  vol.  II,  page  386;  Rio,  1865  : 

"The  American  Union  was  the  first  Power  to  recognize 
the  Independence  of  Brazil.  Whilst  Great  Britain  hesi- 
tated, impelled,  on  the  one  side,  to  favor  our  emancipation 
by  her  trade,  her  liberal  form  of  government  and  by  her  de- 
termined intention  of  abolishing  the  slave  trade  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  detained  out  of  the  respect  which  she  was 
obliged  to  show  to  her  ancient  and  faithful  ally,  the  Portu- 
guese Nation ;  whilst  Austria,  bound  by  the  closest  ties  to  the 
folmder  of  the  Empire,  was  even  more  bound  by  promises 
to  the  Holy  Alliance,  which  looked  askance  at  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  American  countries,  the  United  States,  in  pur- 
suance of  the  enlightened  policy  which  it  had  adopted  with 
all  the  Peoples  of  America,  when  they  separated  themselves 
from  their  Mother  Countries,  extended  to  us  a  brotherly 
hand  and  invited  us  to  take  our  place  in  the  great  assembly 
of  the  Nations  of  the  World.     We  here  register  our  grati- 


8 

tude  to  the  people  of  this,  the  most  powerful  Nation  of  the 
New  World." 

III. 

Which  Government  on  our  Continent  was  the  first  to  ac- 
cept the  so-called  Monroe  Doctrine? 

Without  hesitation  we  may  answer :  The  Government 
of  the  Empire  of  Brazil. 

The  Message  of  President  James  Monroe,  which  we 
have  already  mentioned,  was  dated  December  3,  1823.  Fif- 
ty-nine days  later,  on  January  31,  1824,  our  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  Carvalho  e  Mello,  signed  the  instructions 
of  the  Imperial  Government  to  the  Charge  d'Affaires  of 
Brazil. 

In  paragraph  6  of  this  interesting  document  we  read : 

"Thus,  if  the  United  States  of  America,  for  reasons  of 
national  interest  ought  to  recognize  the  Independence  of  the 
Empire  of  Brazil,  as  has  been  proved,  so  much  more  ought 
that  to  be  looked  for  from  this  great  Nation,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  those  very  interests  are  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  of  its  Government  and  of  its  policy. 

"Such  are  the  principles  of  the  policy  of  those  States, 
which  alone  were  sufficient  to  hasten  to  our  recognition, 
principles  which  in  the  Message  of  the  President  to  both 
Houses  in  December  last  assumed  a  more  generic  application 
to  all  the  States  of  this  Continent,  since  in  that  Message  the 
necessity  of  our  combining  and  standing  shoulder  to  should- 
er for  the  defence  of  our  rights  and  of  our  territory  is 
clearly  pointed  out." 

And  in  paragraph  1 5  : 

"You  zvill  sound  the  Government  as  to  its  attitude  to- 
ward an  offensive  and  defeiisive  alliance  with  this  Umpire 
as  a  part  of  the  American  Continent,  on  the  supposition  that 


) 


such  alliance  should  not  be  based  on  any  mutual  conces- 
sions, but  only  on  the  general  principle  of  the  mutual  bene- 
fits arising  from  such  alliance." 

Thus  Brazil,  after  the  first  days  of  the  revolution  which 
separated  her  from  her  Mother  country,  was  at  particular 
pains  to  insure  political  approximation  with  the  United 
States  of  America,  adhered  to  the  Monroe  doctrine  and 
endeavored  to  conclude,  on  the  basis  of  that  doctrine,  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance  with  the  Great  Nation  of 
the  North,  as  it  was  even  then  called  by  the  great  statesmen 
of  the  Brazilian  Independence. 

The  Ministers  of  State  in  January,  1824,  besides  Carvalho 
de  Mello,  made  Viscount  da  Cachoeira,  were  Villela  Bar- 
bosa,  Marquis  de  Parangua,  Navy;  Maciel  da  Costa,  Mar- 
quis de  Queluz,  Empire;  Pereira  da  Fonseca,  Marquis  de 
Marica,  Finance;  Tinoco  da  Silva,  Justice;  and  Silveira 
Mendonca,  Marquis  de  Sahara,  War. 


IV. 


The  Imperial  Government  continued  to  pursue  the  policy 
of  approximation  and  alliance  between  the  two  countries 
and  after  1824  began  to  consider  it  advisable  and  important 
that  their  two  Representatives  should  be  raised  to  a  higher 
diplomatic  rank.  ^ 

In  a  despatch,  dated  September  15th,  Carvalho  e  Mello 
said  to  our  Agent  in  Washington : 

"Certainly  the  Nations  of  that  Hemisphere  (that  of  Eu- 
rope) will  ever  be  on  the  lookout  for  and  afraid  of  the 
union  and  alliance  which  we  might  make  with  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  and  which  would  thus  form  a 
policy  wholly  American,  that  would  make  them  anxious 
as  to  what  might  arise  from  it.     In  view   of  this.   His 


lO 

Imperial  Majesty  desires  Your  Excellency  to  do  all  in  your 
power  to  get  for  Mr.  Condy  Raguet,  who  is  already  here, 
the  rank  of  ]\Iinister  Plenipotentiary  with  eventual  powers, 
or  for  any  other  person,  provided  that  he  will  help  to  get  the 
resolution  confirmed.  Further  His  Imperial  Majesty 
charges  Your  Excellency  to  propose  an  alliance  intended  to 
preserve  and  support  the  liberty  of  the  American  countries. 
Your  Excellency  will  also  ascertain  on  what  conditions  these 
States  would  be  willing  to  take  part  in  such  an  alliance  and 
will  give  an  account  as  briefly  as  possible  and  by  the  usual 
channels  as  to  what  they  say  on  the  subject.  On  this  point 
I  refer  to  the  instructions  given  to  Your  Excellency,  which 
call  attention  to  the  speech  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  there  quoted"  the  Message  of  Monroe,  1823,  "in 
which  the  President  clearly  lays  down  that  those  States  will 
not  interfere,  if  the  Mother  countries  make  attempts  to 
reconquer  their  old  Colonies,  but  will  prevent  the  interven- 
tion of  other  Powers,  which  principle  has  also  been  admitted 
by  the  British  Government.  ..." 

On  January  28,  1825,  the  same  Minister  wrote  as  fol- 
lows: 

".  ,  .1  have  received  the  command  of  His  Majesty  the 
Emperor  to  recommend  Your  Excellency  to  do  all  you  can 
to  persuade  the  .Government  of  the  United  States  of  the 
necessity  of  making  a  Treaty  of  Alliance,  defensive  and 
offensive,  with  the  Brazilian  Government  in  the  case  of  at- 
tack. Your  Excellency  should  also  bear  in  mind  the  orders 
which  you  have  received  in  this  respect,  not  only  in  the  In- 
structions, but  also  in  my  despatch  of  September  15th  of 
last  year.  Your  Excellency,  however,  should  come  to  no 
final  decision  during  the  negotiations  which  will  take  place, 
and  will  leave  everything  to  an  ad  referendum,  so  that  the 
Imperial  Government  may  not  be  bound  either  by  reasons  of 


II 

civility  or  of  consideration,  but  may  with  complete  liberty 
deliberate  as  to  what  it  considers  to  be  just." 
And  again  on  May  14th  of  the  same  year,  1825  : 
"I  have  received,  and  submitted  to  His  Majesty  the  Em- 
peror, the  despatch  No.  14  which  Your  Excellency  for- 
warded to  me  under  date  of  January  26th  of  the  present 
year  and  His  Majesty  is  aware  of  how  much  you  have  done 
to  ensure  the  nomination  of  a  diplomat  to  this  Court. 
From  what  Your  Excellency  says,  and  from  an  American 
paper  which  appeared  at  a  later  date  than  your  despatch, 
I  see  that  Condy  Raguet  has  been  appointed  Charge  d'Af- 
f aires  and  that  you  are  stated  to  have  been  instrumental  in 
the  matter.  Nevertheless  Your  Excellency  ought  to  insist 
with  persuasive  and  telling  arguments  on  the  nomination  of 
a  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  not  only  out  of  consideration  to 
the  Empire,  but  also  because  American  Ministers  of  this  rank 
have  already  been  here.  Your  Excellency  will  also  give  it 
to  be  understood  that  the  United  States  Government  must 
take  the  first  step  in  the  matter,  since  it  recognized  the  Em- 
pire, and  that  it  is  a  natural  corollary  to  such  recognition, 
and  Your  Excellency  will  also  give  an  assurance  that 
His  Majesty  the  Emperor  will  immediately  nominate  a  Min- 
ister of  equal  rank. 

"With  regard  to  the  question  of  the  Treaty  of  Alliance 
you  should  proceed  on  the  lines  intimated  in  the  Instructions 
and  in  subsequent  despatches  and  I  have  also  to  inform  you 
that,  in  view  of  the  steps  taken  by  you  in  the  matter.  His 
Majesty  the  Emperor  is  not  pleased  that  Your  Excellency 
should  have  proposed  the  inclusion  of  the  other  States  which 
form  the  Spanish  colonies,  on  which  point  nothing  was 
said  in  the  aforesaid  Instructions,  nor  was  it  convenient 
to  associate  us  with  those  States  without  having  previously 
approached  them  privately  on  the  matter." 


12 


V. 


On  January  28,  1825,  Rebello  proposed  the  alliance  to 
Adams  in  writing,  Adams  having  said  to  him  on  the  22d : 

"What  you  have  just  said  I  v^ill  repeat  in  the  presence  of 
the  President,  but  it  w^ill  be  more  convenient  if  you  send  it 
to  me  in  a  note.  After  he  has  read  it  the  President  will  de- 
cide what  steps  it  is  most  convenient  for  the  Government  to 
take."  (Despatch  of  January  26th,  No.  14,  from  the  Bra- 
zilian Legation  in  Washington. ) 

The  following  are  the  most  essential  portions  of  the  Note 
which  on  January  28,  1825,  Rebello  sent  to  Secretary  of 
State  Adams,  a  Note  which  began  with  a  reference  to  the 
Monroe  Message  of  1823  : 

''The  Government  of  Brazil  being  convinced  that  the  de- 
-claration  made  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in 
the  Message  of  His  Excellency  the  President  at  the  First 
Session  of  the  i8th  Congress  is  effective,  and  it  having  been 
said  in  it,  with  regard  to  those  American  countries  which 
had  declared  their  Independence  and  maintained  it,  and 
-whose  Independence  had  been  recognized  by  the  Government 
as  founded  on  reasonable  bases  and  on  the  principles  of 
justice,  that  this  Government  would  not  allow  any  interfer- 
ence for  the  purpose  of  oppressing  or  limiting  in  any  way 
whatsoever  the  destinies  of  those  countries  on  the  part  of 
any  European  Power,  but  that  such  interference  would  be 
looked  upon  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  as  an 
unfriendly  act ;  and  considering  that,  while  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  said  European  Powers,  enlightened  by  the  true 
ideas  which  all  Governments  ought  to  have  as  to  the  justice 
and  principles  on  which  Brazil  founded  her  Independence, 
will  not  interfere  in  the  question  which  she  has  with  Portu- 
gal, it  is  at  the  same  time  human  to  err,  and  Governments 
are  human,  and  it  is  possible  therefore  that  some  of  the  said 


13 

Governments  might  desire  to  help  exhausted  Portugal  to  re- 
colonize  Brazil,  for  which  the  latter  has  but  little  desire ;  and 
considering  that  in  such  an  event  the  United  States  would  be 
bound  to  put  into  practice  the  policy  laid  down  in  the  said 
Message,  giving  proofs  of  the  generosity  and  justice  which 
animates  her,  which  could  not  be  done  without  sacrifice  of 
life  and  treasure ;  and  it  not  being  in  accordance  with  reason, 
justice  and  right  that  the  Government  of  Brazil  should  ac- 
cept such  sacrifices  gratuitously:  that  Government  is  ready 
to  enter  into  a  Convention  with  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  the  object  of  which  will  be  the  preservation 
of  the  Independence  of  Brazil  in  the  case  of  any  Power 
aiding  Portugal  in  its  vain  and  chimerical  projects  for  the 
re-colonization  of  Brazil. 

"The  same  reason  which  moves  the  Government  of  Brazil 
to  hope  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  pro- 
pose the  conditions  for  the  said  Convention  permits  it  also 
to  hope  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  also 
offer  conditions  for  entering  into  of  an  offensive  and 
defensive  alliance  with  the  Government  of  Brazil.  ..." 

The  reply  to  this  note  was  sent  after  James  Monroe  had 
passed  on  the  Presidency  to  his  successor,  John  Quincy 
Adams. 

The  new  Secretary  of  State,  Henry  Clay,  in  a  note  dated 
April  13,  1825,  expressed  himself  as  follows: 

"Sir :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  at  this 
Department  of  your  two  notes,  the  one  under  date  the  28th 
January,  and  the  other  the  6th  day  of  April,  1825.  The 
delay,  in  transmitting  an  answer  to  the  former,  has  arisen 
from  arrangements  incident  to  the  formation  of  a  new  Ad- 
ministration, and  not  from  any  insensibility  to  the  important 
propositions  which  it  announces,  or  disrespect  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  Brazil,  or  its  respectable  Representative  here.  To 
those  propositions,  the  President  has  given  the  most  atten- 


14 

tive  consideration.  They  are,  first,  that  the  United  States 
shall  enter  into  a  Convention  with  your  Government  to 
maintain  its  independence,  in  the  event  of  Portugal  being 
assisted  by  any  foreign  power  to  re-establish  its  former 
sway,  and  secondly,  that  a  Treaty  of  Alliance  and  defence 
be  formed  between  the  United  States  and  the  Government 
of  Brazil  to  expel  the  arms  of  Portugal  from  any  portion  of 
the  Brazilian  Territory  of  which  they  might  happen,  in  the 
progress  of  the  War,  to  take  possession. 

"The  President  of  the  United  States  adheres  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  predecessor,  as  set  forth  in  his  message  of  the 
7th  December,  1823,  to  the  American  Congress.  But  with 
respect  to  your  first  proposition,  as  there  does  not  appear, 
at  present,  any  likelihood  of  Portugal  being  able  to  draw 
to  her  aid  other  Powers  to  assist  her  in  re-subjugating  the 
Brazils,  there  would  not  seem  to  be  any  occasion  for  a  con- 
vention founded  upon  that  improbable  contingency.  The 
President,  on  the  contrary,  sees  with  satisfaction  that  ther^ 
is  a  reasonable  probability  of  a  speedy  peace  between  Por- 
tugal and  the  Government  of  Brazil,  founded  upon  that  In- 
dependence of  it,  which  the  United  States  were  the  first  to 
acknowledge.  In  declining,  therefore,  to  enter  into  the  pro- 
posed convention,  you  will  be  pleased  to  assure  your  Gov- 
ernment that  the  determination  of  the  President  does  not 
proceed  from  any  abatement  of  the  interest  which  the  United 
States  have  constantly  felt  in  the  establishment  of  the  Inde- 
pendence of  Brazil,  but  is  dictated  solely  by  the  want  of 
those  circumstances  which  would  appear  to  be  necessary  to 
justify  the  formation  of  such  a  Convention.  If  in  the 
progress  of  events  there  should  be  a  renewal  of  demonstra- 
tions, on  the  part  of  the  European  allies  to  attack  the  Inde- 
pendence of  the  American  States,  the  President  will  give  to 
that  new  state  of  things,  should  it  arise,  every  considera- 
tion, which  its  importance  would  undoubtedly  demand. 


15 

"With  respect  to  your  second  proposition  of  a  Treaty  of 
Alliance  offensive  and  defensive  to  repel  any  invasion  of  the 
Brazilian  Territories  by  the  forces  of  Portugal,  if  the  ex- 
pected peace  should  take  place,  that  also  would  be  unneces- 
sary. But  such  a  Treaty  would  be  inconsistent  with  the 
policy  which  the  United  States  have  heretofore  prescribed 
to  themselves.  That  policy  is,  that  whilst  the  war  is  con- 
fined to  the  parent  country  and  its  former  Colony,  the  United 
States  remain  neutral,  extending  their  friendship  and  doing 
equal  justice  to  both  parties.  From  that  policy  they  did  not 
deviate  during  the  whole  of  the  long  contest  between  Spain 
and  the  several  Independent  Governments  which  have  been 
erected  on  her  former  American  Territories.  If  an  exception 
to  it  were  now  for  the  first  time  made,  the  justice  of  your 
Sovereign  will  admit  that  the  other  new  Governments  might 
have  some  cause  to  complain  of  the  United  States. 

"Whilst  I  regret  that  these  considerations  of  policy  which 
the  United  States  feel  themselves  bound  to  respect,  will  not 
allow  them  to  enter  at  this  time  into  either  of  the  two  com- 
pacts suggested  by  you,  I  have  much  satisfaction  in  con- 
curring with  you  in  the  expediency  of  permanently  uniting 
our  two  Nations  in  the  ties  of  Friendship,  Peace,  and  Com- 
merce. With  that  view  I  am  instructed  to  say  to  you,  that 
the  United  States  are  disposed  to  conclude  a  Treaty  of 
Peace,  Amity,  Navigation  and  Commerce  with  the  Govern- 
ment of  Brazil,  and  that  they  are  willing  to  adopt,  as  the 
basis  of  the  mutual  regulations  of  the  Commerce  and  Navi- 
gation of  the  two  countries,  a  principle  of  equity  and  perfect 
reciprocity.  If  you  should  be  empowered  to  negotiate  such 
a  Treaty,  I  shall  take  great  pleasure  in  entering  upon  the 
discussion  and  consideration  of  its  terms  at  such  time  as 
may  be  mutually  convenient. 

"I  pray  you,  Sir,  to  accept  the  assurances  of  my  distin- 
guished consideration.     (Signed)  H.Clay. 


i6 

The  Treaty  of  Friendship,  Navigation  and  Commerce  be- 
tween the  two  countries  was  signed  in  the  City  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro  on  December  12,  1828,  by  the  two  Brazihan  Pleni- 
potentiaries, the  Marquis  of  Aracaty,  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  and  Miguel  de  Souza  Mello  e  Alvim,  Minister  of 
the  Navy,  and  by  the  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States, 
William  Tudor. 

VI. 

To  the  documents  already  quoted  let  us  add  the  following 
significant  passage  from  a  despatch  of  the  Marquis  of  Ara- 
caty, Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  addressed  on  April  6, 
1827,  to  our  representative  in  Washington: 

"And  in  this  connection  when  Your  Excellency  is  in  con- 
ference with  the  said  Minister  you  will  do  all  in  your  power 
to  make  him  understand  that  His  Majesty  the  Bmperor  of 
Brazil,  in  his  high  and  well  considered  policy,  understands 
perfectly  what  the  country  is  and  its  value,  and  of  how  great 
mutual  importance  it  is  to  both  countries  that  their  Govern- 
ments should  do  all  in  their  pozver  to  make  their  political 
relations  closer  and  grasp  each  other  by  the  hand.  .   .   ." 

VII. 

After  touching  on  the  recognition  of  our  Independence  by 
the  United  States,  Pereira  Pinto  (Work  cited  above,  page 
390  of  vol.  II)  says: 

"The  basis  for  a  good  understanding  between  Brazil  and 
the  United  States  having  thus  been  cemented  they  have  ever 
remained  on  the  same  footing  of  perfect  cordiality,  which 
has  not  been  disturbed  by  small  incidents  or  disputes  which 
from  time  to  time  have  arisen.  ..." 

The  author  is  referring  to  the  unpleasant  incidents  which 
were   caused   by   three   diplomatic   representatives   of   the 


17 

United  States  in  Brazil:  Condy  Raguet  in  1827,  Wise  in 
1846  and  Webb  after  1863,  as  well  as  to  the  insult  to  our 
sovereignty  offered  by  Captain  Collins  of  the  cruiser  Mas- 
sachusetts by  the  seizure  of  the  Florida^  privateer,  in  1864, 
in  the  bay  of  Bahia.  The  American  Government  in  the 
three  first  cases  censured  the  action  of  their  agents  and  re- 
placed them  by  others  who,  by  the  contrast  they  presented, 
smoothed  into  oblivion  the  mistakes  and  arrogance  of  their 
predecessors ;  in  the  case  of  the  Florida,  immediate  and  hon- 
orable satisfaction  was  given. 

We  will  now  quote  again  Pereira  Pinto  to  show  what  was 
the  dominating  trend  of  our  political  thought  in  the  time  of 
the  Empire  (Work  cited  above,  vol.  II,  page  425)  : 

"Whilst  expressing  heartfelt  wishes  for  the  consolidation 
of  our  alliance  with  the  United  States  by  means  of  a  sincere 
and  enlightened  policy,  the  reader  will  allow  us  to  quote  in 
these  pages  certain  impressions  in  this  respect  which  we 
wrote  in  O  Correio  Mercantil  of  April  7th  of  the  current 
year  (1865): 

"It  is  not  possible  to  imagine  any  advantage  which  could 
possibly  accrue  to  us  by  repelling  the  United  States.  Our 
interests  in  America  are  homogeneous,  and  as  a  result  they 
should  be  our  natural  allies  and  they  have  done  all  in  their 
power  to  bring  about  this  consummation.  Facts  prove 
it.     .     .     . 

When  European  intervention  was  suggested,  to  put  an 
end  to  the  Civil  War,  the  two  Governments  said  that  the 
traditional  policy  of  Monroe  excluded  such  intervention  and 
that  if  they  required  arbitration  they  would  show  prefer- 
ence to  Brazil. 

"All  these  acts  show  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  the 
best  and  most  pronounced  desire  to  form  an  intimate  al- 
liance with  Brazil  and  such  an  alliance  would  have  avoided, 


i8 

who  knows?  the  unjustified  interference  of  Spain,  and 
France  in  the  affairs  of  Mexico  and  Peru  and  the  insults 
which  the  powerful  Nations  of  Europe  have  heaped  on  the 
weak  peoples  of  the  New  World.  Perhaps  our  form  of 
Government  stood  in  the  way  of  such  intimacy?  We  do 
not  think  so.  The  Imperial  institutions  are  also  democratic 
and  the  monarchical  element,  which  is  inherent  in  them, 
gives  lustre  to  and  strengthens  the  Brazilian  form  of  Gov- 
ernment, it  being  certain  that,  in  spite  of  the  difference, 
liberal  principles  amongst  us  are  freer  and  more  tolerant, 
we  have  no  disabilities  and  every  man  can  take  a  part  in 
public  business  provided  he  possesses  talent  and  virtue.  .   . " 

VIII. 


By  having  recourse  to  the  Parliamentary  Annals  of  Bra- 
zil, books,  pamphlets  and  papers,  published  during  the  two 
reigns  of  the  Imperial  epoch,  we  might  multiply  such  quota- 
tions as  we  have  already  given,  illustrative  of  the  conviction 
the  governing  class  had  of  the  advantages  for  the  country 
of  a  cordial  understanding  with  the  United  States  of 
America. 

Those  who  were  in  touch  with  the  late  Emperor  Dom 
Pedro  know  how  he  shared  the  sentiments  which  had  been 
inspired  to  his  father  by  Jose  Bonifacio,  Carv^alho  e  Mello, 
Villela  Barbosa  and  other  Ministers  who,  like  Viscount 
Sepetiba  and  Uruguay,  settled  or  consolidated  the  bases  of 
our  foreign  policy.  These  sentiments  were  proved,  not  only 
by  the  visit  which  he  made  to  the  United  States  of  America 
in  1876,  during  which  he,  whilst  on  board  ship,  took  pleas- 
ure in  translating  the  popular  hymn  of  the  Star-spangled 
banner,  but  by  the  promptitude  and  pleasure  with  which  he 


19 

nominated  the  Brazilian  Delegates  to  the  First  Pan-Ameri- 
can Congress  at  Washington  in  1889. 

On  the  other  hand,  to  pass  in  review  the  proofs  of  friend- 
ship to  Brazil,  the  interest  taken  in  its  progress  and  its 
prestige,  the  appreciation  given  to  its  Government  by  the 
United  States,  from  1824,  to  the  present  day,  would 
necessitate  a  great  expansion  of  this  article,  which  is  mainly 
a  collection  of  quotations.  It  will  suffice  to  remember 
that  the  French  occupation  of  Amapa  in  1836  came  to  an 
end  in  1840,  owing  to  the  representations  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  in  support  of  Brazil  and  England 
in  Paris;  that  the  second  military  occupation,  planned  in 
1895  by  M.  Lebon,  Minister  of  the  Colonies,  was  avoided 
because  M.  Hanotaux,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  better 
advised  than  his  colleague,  understood  that  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine and  British  interests  were  opposed  to  such  a  policy; 
that,  at  the  request  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
Brazil  was  called  to  appoint  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Geneva  Arbitration  Court  to  decide  the  claims  of  the  United 
States  against  England  in  the  case  of  the  Alabama,  having 
appointed  to  that  effect  Viscount  de  Itajuba;  that,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  a  Bra- 
zilian, the  Viscount  de  Arinos,  presided  over  the  Franco- 
American  Arbitration  Court,  which  sat  in  Washington  from 
1880  to  1884,  and  that  when  certain  of  the  Great  Powers 
proffered  their  good  offices  at  a  critical  moment  during  the 
Civil  War,  President  Lincoln  replied  that  the  question  was 
an  American  one  and  that  respect  for  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
would  not  allow  him  to  accept  any  European  intervention, 
adding  that,  if — as  was  not  probable — the  moment  arrived 
for  the  intervention  of  a  friendly  Government  the  natural 
arbiter  between  the  two  combatants  would  be  the  Govern- 
ment of  Brazil. 


20 

X. 

We  cannot  deny  ourselves  the  pleasure  of  giving  at  this 
point,  from  the  papers  of  the  day,  the  following  essential 
extracts  from  the  speech  which  the  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States,  Richard 
Vidder  Meade,  read  on  December  5,  1857,  when  he  pre- 
sented his  credentials  to  the  Emperor  Dom  Pedro  II. 

"By  accrediting  a  Minister  to  this  Government,  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  intends  not  only  to  extend  due 
courtesy  to  the  greatest  Power  of  the  South  American  Con- 
tinent, but  also  to  show  its  sincere  desire  to  act  with  the 
Imperial  Government  of  Brazil  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
policy  which  has  ever  united  the  two  countries  in  the  bonds 
of  peace  and  of  friendship,  which  gives  added  force  and 
vigor  to  an  already  prosperous  and  increasing  trade  and, 
finally,  tends  to  the  permanent  prosperity  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  power  of  the  two  great  Nations  on  whose  des- 
tinies depend  those  of  the  two  great  continents  in  which 
they  lie. 

"My  Government  is  well  aware  of  the  points  of  similarity 
and  the  community  of  interests  which  ought  to  make  the 
bonds  between  the  two  countries  unbreakable  and  give  the 
same  direction  to  the  policy  and  aspirations  of  them  both. 
An  equal  extent  of  territory,  of  vast  proportions,  insures 
for  the  two  Nations  an  indisputable  preponderance  in  the 
future,  and  gives  their  position  an  importance  due  prin- 
cipally to  a  consciousness  of  their  own  power. 

"The  similarity  which  in  many  ways  exists  between  the 
Constitutional  organism  of  both  countries  tends  to  political 
and  social  sympathy,  both  factors  for  mutual  well-being  and 
future  commercial  progress;  we  are  at  a  point  when  a 
policy  common  to  both  Nations,  stable  and  deeply  rooted  on 


21 

their  own  soil,  a  policy  which  will  have  to  meet  many  attacks 
from  outside,  will  establish  an  alliance  between  them  and 
will  ensure  for  mutual  defence  a  unity  of  action  and  feeling, 
that  will  prove  invincible  in  the  future.  ..." 

These  sentiments  manifested  then  and  on  many  other 
occasions  are  identical  with  those  that  to-day  inspire  the 
Governments  of  Washington  and  Rio  de  Janeiro,  as  recent 
events,  which  are  matters  of  public  knowledge  and  therefore 
need  not  be  recapitulated,  have  proved.  .  .  .  All  in- 
trigues against  this  country  in  Washington  from  1823 
down  to  recent  times  have  been  met  by  the  invincible  barrier 
opposed  to  it  by  the  ancient  friendship,  which  so  happily 
unites  Brazil  and  the  United  States  and  which  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  present  generation  to  perpetuate  with  the  same  dili- 
gence and  enthusiasm  as  was  displayed  by  our  ancestors. 


7  3  H 


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